In the typical household, one of the major users of energy is the hot water heater. According to the United States Department of Energy, approximately 14.5% of the total energy consumed in the average home is due to the heating of hot water. With today's necessary emphasis on energy conservation, by using less hot water, most families would save a significant amount on their utility bills. While various methods or schemes have been devised in the past to use less hot water, to be truly effective, it requires a conscious effort on behalf of each of the individual members of the household to save any substantial amount of their utility bills, including hot water consumption. The present invention is designed to make the individual members of the household more conscious of the amount of hot water they consume daily, particularly when taking a shower.
The typical time that a person normally spends in the shower is approximately five to six minutes. A nine minute shower is normally considered a fairly long shower, but on the other hand, a three minute shower would be a very short time interval for the taking of a shower. Since the taking of a shower is the most popular way of bathing, by decreasing the amount of time individual members of the household are in the shower, or at least making them conscious of the time, discretionary discipline encouraged and assisted by the hot water timer could substantially reduce the consumption of hot water, and therefore the energy necessary for the heating and maintaining temperature of hot water in the home.